Blue Voices Community Advocate

About the role

People with lived experience of mental health issues and conditions and the broader Australian community have a critical role in determining how Beyond Blue can create positive change.

To enable this, we work closely with our Blue Voices community – people with personal experiences of mental health issues, the mental health conditions of anxiety and depression, and of suicidality – who have put up their hands to advise, guide and influence us. Their lived experience and expert insights are valued deeply.

The Blue Voices Community Advocate is a new leadership role focused on delivering a step-change improvement in Beyond Blue’s engagement and involvement of people with lived experience.  The role will influence, champion and drive further cultural change in Beyond Blue, creating deeper organisation-wide understanding of effective community participation in Beyond Blue.

The successful candidate will have a track record in influencing behaviour change in an organisation where there are competing demands and complex challenges. 

Accountabilities include but are not limited to:

• Engage positively with Blue Voices and other networks of people with lived experience.
• Advocate for the effective engagement of Blue Voices in Beyond Blue activities.
• Work with Beyond Blue’s senior leaders and all staff to drive continuous improvement in their understanding of lived experience expertise and community participation and their practice in involving people with lived experience in their work.
• Design and implement internal engagement and capacity building opportunities and strategies to empower Blue Voices members to contribute meaningfully to the design, implementation and review of Beyond Blue’s major products, services, programs, policies and advocacy.

The successful candidate will have:

• Lived experience of mental health issues and/or suicidality.
• Extensive demonstrated capacity to effectively represent and advocate for people with lived experience and their diverse experiences and expectations in a workplace with complex and sometimes competing needs.
• Experience designing and implementing organisation-wide capability-building initiatives.
• Ability to work effectively and build relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders, demonstrating diplomacy, empathy, sensitivity and resilience.
• Ability to influence, champion and drive cultural change in a busy organisation, including through setting a vision, identifying key levers driving a culture, demonstrating leadership and engaging and influencing others.
• A qualification in a relevant field is desirable (for example social planning, community planning, public health, education, communications or similar)

The ideal candidate will also have experience working within a national not-for-profit environment. Knowledge of lived experienced networks and forums in Australia and key organisations and issues within the mental health and suicide prevention sectors would also be highly regarded.

Benefits and Perks

Working closely with the Community Participation Lead (focused on refinement of processes, communications and community engagement activities), and under guidance from the Head of Blue Voices, Diversity and Inclusion, you will be a part of a friendly and highly skilled team working collaboratively across the organisation. The broader Beyond Blue family promotes a culture of collaboration and respect. Working at Beyond Blue offers flexibility, professional development and the opportunity to be a part of one of the leading mental health organisations in Australia. Benefits include Not-For-Profit salary packaging options, an employee assistance program and wellbeing initiatives. Our office is an easy walk from Glenferrie Station and our Social Squad will ensure that you get to enjoy some fun events in the workplace. Beyond Blue also marks Aboriginal Dates of Significance, such as NAIDOC Week and National Reconciliation Week, as part of our RAP commitments.